When you follow a user on another Mastodon server, their display name, bio, and avatar may become outdated on your local instance. This happens because Mastodon caches remote profile data to reduce server load and speed up timeline loading. A stale profile shows old information even after the remote user has updated their details. This article explains how to force a manual refresh of a remote Mastodon profile from your own instance.
Key Takeaways: Manual Profile Refresh in Mastodon
- Profile dropdown > Refresh: Forces the local instance to re-fetch the remote user’s profile data from their home server.
- Web interface only: The manual refresh option is available in the Mastodon web app but not in most mobile apps.
- Cache timeout: Mastodon automatically refreshes remote profiles every 24 hours; manual refresh bypasses this delay.
Why Remote Profiles Become Stale
Mastodon is a federated network. When you follow a user on a different instance, your local server stores a copy of their profile information. This cached data includes the display name, bio, header image, and avatar. The cache prevents your server from making a network request every time someone views that profile. However, the cache does not update instantly when the remote user changes their profile. By default, your instance re-fetches remote profiles once every 24 hours. If the remote user updated their profile five minutes ago, you still see the old version until the next automatic refresh.
How Federation Handles Profile Updates
When a user edits their profile, their home server sends a ProfileUpdate activity to all servers that host a follower of that user. This activity tells the receiving server to update its cached copy. In practice, network delays, server load, or temporary federation issues can cause this activity to be lost or delayed. The manual refresh feature gives you a direct way to request the current profile from the remote server, bypassing the automatic schedule and any missed activity messages.
Steps to Manually Refresh a Remote Mastodon Profile
The manual refresh option is available on the Mastodon web interface. It works for any profile hosted on a different instance, including profiles on the same server if you have multiple accounts.
- Navigate to the remote user’s profile
Open the Mastodon web app in your browser. Go to the profile of the remote user whose information appears outdated. You can do this by clicking their name in a post or typing their full handle in the search bar. - Open the profile dropdown menu
On the user’s profile page, locate the three-dot icon at the top right of the profile header area. This icon is positioned next to the follow button or the bell icon. Click it to open the dropdown menu. - Select the Refresh option
From the dropdown menu, choose Refresh. The option text may vary slightly by Mastodon version but is always labeled “Refresh” or “Refresh profile”. Clicking this option sends a request from your instance to the remote user’s home server for the latest profile data. - Wait for the refresh to complete
After you click Refresh, Mastodon displays a brief loading indicator. The profile page updates within a few seconds. If the remote server is slow or unreachable, you may see the old data for a few more seconds. Reload the page if the new information does not appear within 10 seconds. - Verify the updated profile
Check the display name, bio, avatar, and header image. If the remote user changed any of these, the refreshed version now shows the latest data. If the profile still appears outdated, repeat the refresh after one minute. Persistent staleness may indicate a federation problem on the remote server.
Common Problems and Limitations When Refreshing Profiles
The Refresh Option Is Missing
If you do not see the Refresh option in the profile dropdown, you are likely viewing a profile on your own instance. The Refresh feature is designed for remote profiles only. Local profiles are always up to date because they are stored on the same server. Another reason is that you are using a mobile app. Most third-party Mastodon apps do not implement the manual refresh endpoint. Use the official Mastodon web interface to access this feature.
Refresh Does Not Update the Profile
If the profile does not change after refreshing, the remote user may not have actually updated their profile. Check the remote user’s profile directly by visiting their home instance. Open a new browser tab and type their full handle in the format @username@instance.com. If the profile shows different data on the home instance than on your instance, the refresh should have worked. If both show the same data, no update occurred.
Federation Errors Prevent Refresh
A network error or server timeout may prevent the refresh from completing. This usually happens when the remote instance is down, blocked by your instance, or experiencing high load. Check the remote instance status by visiting its homepage. If the instance is reachable, try refreshing again later. If the problem persists, contact your instance administrator.
| Item | Automatic Refresh | Manual Refresh |
|---|---|---|
| Trigger | Scheduled every 24 hours | User-initiated via dropdown menu |
| Availability | Background process, always active | Web interface only |
| Speed | Depends on server schedule | Instant request |
| Effect on server load | Low, spread over time | One-time request per user |
| Suitable for | General profile maintenance | Immediate updates after a change |
You can now manually refresh any remote Mastodon profile from the web interface when the cached data is outdated. Use this feature when you need to see the latest display name, bio, or avatar without waiting for the automatic 24-hour refresh cycle. For profiles that still do not update, check the remote user’s home instance directly. To automate profile updates across your instance, administrators can reduce the remote profile cache TTL in the server configuration file.